Honey farming dimensions

UZMA ALEEM
Despite the environmental, agricultural and industrial benefits of apiculture, the number of honey bees is on the decline. Academic and research efforts can give a lift to honeybee keeping if Pakistan Agriculture Research Council takes some developmental initiatives, reports UZMA ALEEM

Honey farming dimensions “What the heck is in that tree”“
“Where” .....Wow, that looks like a HUGE mass of bees!”
Sure enough, it was a honey bee swarm clustered together on the lower branch of a blue spruce tree. For whatever reason, the queen bee had taken the hive on a journey to find a new home, and this spruce branch was just one stop along the way.
This was among some of memories of my childhood regarding honeybees. When we could easily find honey bees hives on trees and their migration in swarms but now these scenes have become extinct. After working in the horticulture industry for several decades, I knew how beneficial honey bees were to agriculture. Years ago a beekeeper had told me that honey bees were on the decline in Pakistan due to mites and disease, so I further realized how important it was to preserve the colonies of bees though in the form of modern day apiculture farms,” Nawaz Malick, a horticulturist said.
These words of a horticulturist are not only memories rather it shed light on an important issue of honeybee keeping in Pakistan. Benefits of apiculture are numerous as it is beneficial for agriculture and industrial sector as well. The share of honeybees in crop pollination is 80 percent. It improves the quality of fruits, vegetable and yield of seed crops. Honey production from occidental bees is upto 24 kg per colony per annum. The sidder honey fetches maximum price. Bee hive value-added by-products are also useful royal jelly, pollen and propolis are used as health food and beeswax in cosmetics. Despite its all of benefits for agriculture and industrial sector, little has been done in Pakistan. Though Pakistan Agriculture Research Council PARC initiated research in apiculture at federal level in July 1976 under a coordinated programme of Honeybee Management yet it was terminated and this project was transferred to the non-development budget of PARC as its core activity in 1987. Afterward a German NGO GTZ collaborated for this project and a full-fledged Honeybee Research Institute was established with its own building, including laboratories in 1989. While being shuffled from last three decades, now it has merged into Institute of Plant & Environment Protection (IPEP). Perhaps the structural change of this department was one of the factors which proved discouraging for the apiculturists. Now academic and business promotion entities are also taking interest in this primitive and beneficial activity of apiculture as Punjab University has also established its apiculture research centre at its New Campus Lahore.
In this regard some training workshops were also conducted. The purpose of these workshops was to promote apiculture or honey bee keeping in Pakistan. Students, representatives of SMEs, women entrepreneurs and those who wanted to enhance their skills and capabilities in apiculture as their hobby or and business took keen interest in this research based workshop. Attiya Malik, a student of Zoology department of Punjab University Lahore, who also got training of honey bee farming in a workshop held in PU, told, “Collecting honey from wild bee colonies is one of the most ancient human activities and is still practiced by aboriginal societies in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. Some of the earliest evidence of gathering honey from wild colonies is from cave paintings, dating to around 13,000 BC. So my hobby and training of honey bee keeping is an extension of activities of primitive humans”. She said she wanted to actualize her hobby into a productive activity that could be fruitful for agri habitat and country”s economy as well.
Punjab University has established a European bee “Apis mellifera” farm comprising 200 hives at its New Campus which help provide quality and tasteful honey to the people easily. Research is being carried out for improvement in management techniques, quality queen breeding and control of pests and disease to increase honey yield of colonies.
Punjab University Honeybee Research Project Chairman Dr Muhammad Akhtar said that to feed the honeybees continuously, many floral and other trees were being planted in the campus. He said that beekeeping training programmes and workshops for honeybee management at national and provincial level had been organised for dissemination of technical know-how among students, farmers, extension workers, officers of alien departments and hobbyists.
“Special emphasis is being given on generating awareness about the crucial factor of bee pollination required for increased productivity and PU efforts have brought maximum results. Moreover honey is a natural product of honeybee keeping rather it offers honey, royal jelly, wax, pollen, proplis and bee venom that have innumerable commercial uses,” he elucidated.
The European bee honeybee farm comprising 200 colonies has been established for research, training and teaching purpose. The colonies are presently foraging Citrus plants for honey and honeybee queen production. During a year, some 2424 kg honey was extracted. Pure natural honey produced as a research by-product and packed under hygienic conditions is being provided to the employees and general public by the University. Total sale proceeds of the honey sold so far is more than Rs. 45,25,905. Though this project of Punjab University is not a huge project yet it is big success. If more projects of such kind are started then these can be quite beneficial for agri and industrial sector. Certain training programs like integrated honeybee management for production of honey and other bee keeping products can be beneficial. Management Associate, Dairy and Livestock Sector-Punjab of SMEDA told the main objective of the training was to introduce honeybee farming as source of income and mean to alleviate poverty by creating employment opportunities especially in rural areas. Then, to identify major problems in promoting honeybee farming as profitable enterprise for generating such kind of employment. “Some people raise bees for a hobby, others do it for a business. As a business, it could raise enough to support a small family. If you have the interest or resources to start a honey farm, explore the possibility of getting into business with it. Our guide will help you by providing some basics of starting a honey farm. Honey farming could be a hobby, but it could also be a full-time job that could support a small family. Small bee farmers can produce average of 100 lbs. of honey per year. If you are into honey farming as a hobby, you can turn that interest into a business. If not, and you are outright interested in getting into business, try working as a beekeeper employee for a while, even just part time, to assess whether beekeeping is indeed for you,” she explained.
Beekeeping can be a profitable business in Pakistan. About 7,000 beekeepers are now rearing exotic species, Apis mellifera in the modern beehives. There are about 300,000 colonies producing 7,500 metric ton honey annually. Congenial climate conditions and bee flora in the country provide excellent opportunities for the expansion of beekeeping. Honeybee flora is present on vast areas in all the provinces including Northern areas, FATA and AJK and can support 1,000,000 honeybee colonies. Now there is an immediate need to get benefit from environmental and geographical conditions for better production of honey.

Too noisy for life

BY UZMA ALEEM

Shahid Awan, a former van driver who now works as a daily wages worker in a factory, bears scolds and abuses of his contractor for not fulfilling all the given tasks because of his partial deafness. The problem of hearing impairment gradually occurred because of his old occupation as the accumulated exposure to traffic noise led to partial deafness.
The case of Shahid Awan is not the only case of hearing impairment. Since noise pollution does not only affect hearing rather it causes mental fatigue, cardiac arrest, restlessness and frustration, while raising anger, anxiety, blood pressure that ultimately reduces people’s morale, motivation and judgment. Moreover noise pollution also retards student learning ability and concentration.
During the past thirty years, noise in all areas, especially in urban areas, has been increasing rapidly. In Pakistan, there is no proper implementation of laws regarding noise emanating from vehicle horns, railway engines, air crafts, airport or industrial and construction activities.
Though public complaints on noise pollution are often received in the federal and provincial environmental protection agencies, yet they have rarely taken any legal action.
It is pertinent to note that road traffic noise is most widespread source of noise nuisance in the urban areas of Pakistan. The situation is getting alarming with increase in traffic density on city roads, particularly in Lahore.
Environmental Protection Agency of Pakistan exercises its power under clause (d) of Section 6(1) of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983 with the approval of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council established National Environmental Quality Standards, for motor vehicle exhaust and noise.
Pakistan NEQS for motor vehicle noise allows the maximum permissible noise emission limit of 85 dB for new vehicles at a distance of 7.5 metres from the source without specifying the type of motor vehicle and measuring technique.
Most of the areas of Lahore and other major cities are subjected to unacceptable noise conditions due to construction, manufacturing, traffic and recreational activities. But unfortunately, no national survey has been conducted to assess noise level in cities. However, random tests in different cities showed that the noise level in most of areas was as high as 70-90 dB which was much higher that the acceptable limits. The major source of this increasing noise pollution on roads is unnecessary and uncivilized usage of horn.
Taufeeq Ahmad, a retail and wholesale dealer of Horns, told S+ various types of Horns were available in market. But around six major kinds of horns were most sold i.e. Single stage horn, double level horn (commonly known as double pressure horn), little speaker horn, Multiple stages/circuits horn, broad band horn, high performance electronic horn. “Broad band horns and high performance electronic horns are being import from China. Three tones are available in the electronic horn range and almost forty ranges in the high-performance horns are available to better differentiate from ambient noise. Step less volume control via potentiometer is used in electronic horns instead of mechanical screw to accommodate fluctuating ambient noise. However people do not prefer these horns because of their expensive rates and lack of shrill in their sounds. Whereas the multiple stages horns and double level horns are mostly liked by drivers of vehicles of public transport like motorcycle rickshaws, buses, vans and coasters etc”, he added.
Though high pressure horns are banned yet some of the private vans’ drivers also prefer horns with little speakers. So on the demand of consumers, sale of these types of horns is highest.
While talking about the latest technological horns, Tabeer Mustafa, a former engineer of Railways of Pakistan said that a very interesting technology was the “Broad Band” horn, developed in England for the Noise Abatement Society there, and tried out in 2003, very successfully - it could not spread out as much as Chinese and Pakistani horns - these were considered much less disturbing to neighbours. Some US rail lines had apparently bolted plates onto the horns to get the same effect.
However in Pakistan noise pollution is on a rapid increase because of lack of road sense and irresponsible behaviour of masses and government towards noise pollution. Although the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1969 (Section 154, 155 and 158) guarantees the absence of noise pollution through following clauses:
• No motor vehicle shall be fitted with and multilinked horn giving a succession of different note or with any other sound producing device giving an unduly harsh, shrill , loud or alarming noise on other similar vehicles of such sound signals.
• Every motor vehicle shall be fitted with a device (therein after referred to as a silencer) which by means of an expansion chamber or otherwise reduce as far as may be reasonable and practicable the noise that would otherwise be made by the escape of exhaust gases from the engine.
• Every motor vehicle shall be so constructed and maintained as not to cause undue noise when in motion.
According to environmental protection department of Punjab, government of Punjab constituted a committee to address the issue of use of pressure horns. A number of meetings had been held in the past and more than 80 percent illegal horns were removed from intra city route buses of Lahore.
Awareness raising campaigns regarding noise pollution were also initiated like Blue area in Islamabad and Jail road in Lahore had been declared as silence zones (no horn blowing allowed). Despite these efforts of government any significant change in the environment of metropolis could not be observed. Lack of commitment of government and indifferent approach of masses made the situation worse. The level of noise has exceeded the maximum limit in most of the areas of Lahore. As Naseem Ahmad of EPA told the city was being hit by the worst levels of noise pollution. “Around 55 decibels in residential areas and 75 decibel levels in commercial areas should be mandated to reduce noise pollution,” said the Assistant director EPA
“Whereas we recorded 73 to 91 decibels at Shadman Chowk, 90 at Circular Road, 85 at Kalma Chowk, 98 at Azadi Chowk, 93 at General Post Office Chowk and 91 to 100 decibels at Railway Station,” he explained.
Medical survey reports and studies also reflect impact of noise pollution on public health. According to a cross-sectional and descriptive study of ENT Department, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore, several commuters and drivers of public transport drivers are exposed to excess noise on roads in Lahore and most of them are suffering from noise induced hearing loss.
This report stated that 65 percent of the people including drivers had noise induced hearing loss. (NIHL) 25 percent had normal hearing threshold and 10 percent had disabling hearing loss in Lahore.
There is no doubt that there is excess noise on roads in all major cities in Pakistan but the situation has become worse in Lahore with more than 3 million vehicles running on roads. According to ISO standard noise levels on roads should not exceed 70 dB. In Lahore, the noise limit on roads laid down by National Environment Quality Standards is 85-90 dB with in the radius of 7.5 meters. Also the Motor Vehicle Rules 1969: Section 158 states that every motor shall be so constructed and maintained as not to cause noise when in motion. But the fact is other wise and noise levels on roads average around 90 dB. This excessive noise on roads in Lahore city has resulted in hearing loss (from mild to acute level) in 75 percent of the commuters. “This NIHL will continue if corrective action is not taken. More over NIHL is progressive if noise pollution is not controlled and this hearing loss is irreversible. What damage has been done cannot be corrected, only prevention is the treatment of NIHL”, Dr. Shahzad Mirza explained.
“Hearing loss is not only one of the hazards of noise. Prolonged or excessive exposure to noise, whether in community or at work place, can cause permanent medical conditions as hypertension and ischemic heart disease. Noise can adversely affect performance, attentiveness, and memory. On roads or in industry these deficits in performance can lead to accidents. Noise above 80 dB may increase aggressive behaviour, and can result in changes in social behaviour. The main social consequence of hearing impairment is the inability to understand speech in normal conditions, which is considered severe social handicap,” he added.
While talking about the preventions he told noise control measures could be in the form of various type of engineering, personal protection, and administrative approaches. Most important was awareness among community about the health hazards of noise pollution. Moreover the government should ensure smooth traffic flows to minimise noise pollution since horns are mostly used in traffic jams.


Random tests in different cities showed that the noise level in most of areas was as high as 70-90 dB which was much higher that the acceptable limits. The major source of this increasing noise pollution on roads is unnecessary usage of horn.


Around 55 decibels in residential areas and 75 decibel levels in commercial areas should be mandated to reduce noise pollution. 73 to 91 decibels at Shadman Chowk, 90 at Circular Road, 85 at Kalma Chowk, 98 at Azadi Chowk, 93 at General Post Office Chowk and 91 to 100 decibels at Railway Station have been recorded.

The bane of charity

The bane of charity

UZMA ALEEM reports sadaqa meat and their vendors are adding pollution in city environment


‘A man wearing dirty cloths throws few pieces of meat of sharp red colour in canal, kites and crows catch few of those pieces. Then a shocking incidence appears that one kite expires at canal bank followed by a crow. Another man throws more pieces of meat, this time kites and crows take the flight but do not take any piece. Another man comes and throws more torn pieces of same sharp red coloured meat then till sunset some people repeat this activity time and again. By the evening that particular place has filled with filthy red torn pieces of meat and sharp red coloured spots, flies are flying on that garbage and on two dead birds while a straw dog is trying to satisfy its appetite through the dead birds.’ This series of incidents happen at the canal road, which is one of the busy roads of provincial capital. Actually the religious ritual of giving sadaqaat or providing food to birds has become a heinous act of adding environmental pollution in the metropolis.
Many vendors of sadaqa meat can be found at different spots of main canal road of Lahore and at the bridge of river Ravi. These vendors sell one shopping bag of sadaqa meat of Rs. 10. People, who are passing by them on their motorbikes or cars, buy this sadaqa meat and vendors get their sadaqa by moving this shopping bag around their head (a conventional way to do the sadaqa) and then they throw the meat at the canal bank and move to the next car when traffic signal turns red. It is important to note that most of the people do not touch the shopping bags of the sadaqa meat because of bad odour of meat and dirty shopping bags. But these people firmly believe that they do it for virtue and all bad fortunes would be reverted through this.
While talking to Sunday Plus a sadaqa vendor Shafiq Babu said that they were standing at the road sides to revert the bad fortunes and they were doing it for the betterment of humanity. ‘When people give sadaqa meat and we throw this meat out then actually they throw their bad fortune away from them. We facilitate people by selling meat in cheap prices.’
When Splus probed about the texture and colour of meat Shafiq Babu said, ‘you know about the price hike, the prices of meat has also increased manifold. So we sell pieces of the lungs of cows or buffaloes, that is the reason that the meat looks tender and quite different from the red meat.’ While refusing the allegation of adding some toxic dying chemicals he said, ‘Lungs have the same colour and we do not add any chemical to dye it.’
On assurance from Sunday Plus for anonymity another Sadaqa meat vendor said, ‘we dye meat with sharp red colour to add sharpness and attract the people because the flesh of lungs is of light pink colour which fails to assert the attention of people who tend to give sadaqaat. We use red colour that we buy from paints and sanitary shops. But these dyes are not bad as we have been using these dyes since long.
When S+ asked about the birds’ expiring incidents and low tendency of birds of eating sadaqa meat, he said that it had no connection with low quality of meat or dying chemical, actually these birds expired because they got the bad fortune of people who gave their sadaqa. ‘Moreover we throw meat in huge quantity that they satisfy their appetite soon and then they do not turn back to have more pieces of meat.’
Neelofar Sadiq, a student of environmental sciences, said, these vendors of sadaqa meat are actually adding pollution in the environment of our city. Because they give poisonous meat to the birds and birds may expire after having those pieces of meat. Whereas these meat pieces add more garbage at the beautiful canal bank now the roadside of canal has become polluted as straw dogs roam around the garbage at the roadside. It becomes difficult for pedestrians to walk at footpaths or cross the roads.
While talking to S+ Asma Amir, representative of PCSIR, said, ‘if these sadaqa meat vendors dye meat with toxic chemicals of paints then they are committing crime because some of the chemicals of paints are very dangerous. If they would be given in excessive quantity they can be proved killing for humans too whereas birds can be easily expired by these chemicals. If birds do not eat meat dyed with toxic chemicals even then these chemicals can be poisonous for the spices living in canal water. Moreover if we throw toxic chemical dyes near trees and plants they can be hazardous for the vegetation and even soil.’
‘Some toxic chemicals of paints are resistant to degradation and, due to their environmental persistence, may move long distance and concentrate very far from the sites where they are thrown. These are bio-accumulate in the tissues of humans or animals. The most common among these substances, DDT and PCB (Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls), are widely contaminating the canals and river Ravi they have been found in tortoise of Lahore canal and other marine mammals. PCBs persist in the environment for years and may bio-accumulate up to 70,000 times,’ she added.
She maintained that it was reasonable to believe that many other POPs, Persistent Organic Pollutants, contaminated the canal water but sub types of PCBs which were used in paints industry were also adding pollution in canal water.
Tariq Zaman, district officer of environment of city district government of Lahore (CDGL), was of the view that we had tried several times for the eradication of these encroachments at road sides of canal now their number has decreased but it could not be eradicated completely because these vendors rode on bicycles and moved quickly at the raid of officials of CDGL.
When S+ probed from eminent Islamic scholar Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi about the importance of sadaqaat in Islam and its specific way of giving dyed meat to birds, he said, “This was 1400 years ago long before it became fashionable or “politically correct” to care about “animal rights.” Yet even in this barbaric time the Prophet (S.A.W.) had banned forcing animals to fight for human entertainment (Sunan Abu Dawud #2556). And He taught kindness to animals and birds. We human beings are made viceroy of Allah on earth. What is expected of a viceroy, a trustee or ruler? If those over whom one commands power are killed without cause, have their homes polluted heedlessly with toxic wastes, and have deformities and diseases resulting from the careless and wasteful disposal of carcinogens, should not the ruler be asked if he is discharging his responsibilities and trust faithfully? Unfortunately, there have been altogether too many shameful, unnecessary cases of pollution that have taken their toil on the planet, the animals, and the plants that inhabit it. One wonders if man is taking his responsibilities seriously.”
“Quran 2:30 “…Your Lord said unto the angels: “Lo! I am about to place a viceroy on the earth…,” and Quran 22:65 “Do you not see that God has made subject to you (humans) all that is on the earth”
But what we are doing in the name of giving sadaqaat we are destroying environment and killing birds. In such a situation when people are dying of hunger and they do not have enough to eat then sadaqaat should be given to human beings. No doubt it is good to care for birds but it is better to give alms to humans then to birds.
He said, “ aim of alms is to create equality in society and it can be possible when we people will start giving importance to the needy people as well. A society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth on the satisfaction of their own desires but reserve a portion of it for parents, relatives, neighbours, the poor and the incapacitated. As the saying goes: Charity begins at home. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of his family, to assist other people in need of his help.”
In such a situation when Islam does not promote such alms which are harming living beings like birds and aquatic animals and adding misery for mankind as pollutants and environmentalists also discourage such acts. Then CDGL should take immediate steps to curb this situation.